[Donald] Trump asked the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, to shut down the federal investigation into Mr. Trump's former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in an Oval Office meeting in February, according to a memo Mr. Comey wrote shortly after the meeting.

"I hope you can let this go," the president told Mr. Comey, according to the memo.

The existence of Mr. Trump's request is the clearest evidence that the president has tried to directly influence the Justice Department and F.B.I. investigation into links between Mr. Trump's associates and Russia.

Mr. Comey wrote the memo detailing his conversation with the president immediately after the meeting, which took place the day after Mr. Flynn resigned, according to two people who read the memo. The memo was part of a paper trail Mr. Comey created documenting what he perceived as the president's improper efforts to influence a continuing investigation. An F.B.I. agent's contemporaneous notes are widely held up in court as credible evidence of conversations.

During the same meeting, Trump reportedly also "began the discussion by condemning leaks to the news media, saying that Mr. Comey should consider putting reporters in prison for publishing classified information"—because he is a gross authoritarian with contempt for our democratic norms, in addition to being a scofflaw who tried to obstruct a federal investigation.

The White House immediately issued a denial, on which Politico's Shane Goldmacher noted "no one at the White House" was willing to put their name.

They can issue denials from here to eternity, but the fact is that Comey was taking detailed notes because he already felt as though Trump were trying to influence the investigation. That means there's probably even more where this came from.

It also means that Comey's firing should now rightly be viewed (if it weren't already) as a punitive measure because Comey wouldn't indulge Trump's request to "let this go," which then itself becomes another instance of obstruction.

It was textbook obstruction of an investigation. This is the time when anyone who cares about this nation calls for impeachment proceedings.

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[Donald] Trump asked the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, to shut down the federal investigation into Mr. Trump's former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in an Oval Office meeting in February, according to a memo Mr. Comey wrote shortly after the meeting.

"I hope you can let this go," the president told Mr. Comey, according to the memo.

The existence of Mr. Trump's request is the clearest evidence that the president has tried to directly influence the Justice Department and F.B.I. investigation into links between Mr. Trump's associates and Russia.

Mr. Comey wrote the memo detailing his conversation with the president immediately after the meeting, which took place the day after Mr. Flynn resigned, according to two people who read the memo. The memo was part of a paper trail Mr. Comey created documenting what he perceived as the president's improper efforts to influence a continuing investigation. An F.B.I. agent's contemporaneous notes are widely held up in court as credible evidence of conversations.

During the same meeting, Trump reportedly also "began the discussion by condemning leaks to the news media, saying that Mr. Comey should consider putting reporters in prison for publishing classified information"—because he is a gross authoritarian with contempt for our democratic norms, in addition to being a scofflaw who tried to obstruct a federal investigation.

The White House immediately issued a denial, on which Politico's Shane Goldmacher noted "no one at the White House" was willing to put their name.

They can issue denials from here to eternity, but the fact is that Comey was taking detailed notes because he already felt as though Trump were trying to influence the investigation. That means there's probably even more where this came from.

It also means that Comey's firing should now rightly be viewed (if it weren't already) as a punitive measure because Comey wouldn't indulge Trump's request to "let this go," which then itself becomes another instance of obstruction.

It was textbook obstruction of an investigation. This is the time when anyone who cares about this nation calls for impeachment proceedings.

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